FORT LEE, Va. – Shop your commissary and save more than 29 percent on your grocery bill. That's the good news according to the most comprehensive Market Basket Price Comparison Study ever done by the Defense Commissary Agency.
“This survey revealed an overall savings of 29.2 percent, which is in line with our agency's corporate objective to increase savings to 30 percent over commercial grocery stores and super centers by fiscal year 2002. In fact, we expect to meet that goal by the end of this year,” said DeCA Director Maj. Gen. Robert J. Courter.
Bottom line for customers: the amount of savings verified by the survey means annual savings of over $2,300 for a family of four that regularly shops in their commissary.
The market basket survey compares the prices of items sold in commissaries with prices of the same items sold in private sector supermarkets. The savings figure includes sales tax for commercial stores, and surcharge for commissaries.
This year's survey is unlike any previous DeCA price survey because it includes comparison data from overseas stores and it used a comprehensive database of actual prices from U.S. commercial grocery stores in addition to random price sampling of meat and produce items, said Scott Simpson, DeCA's director of operations. Prices from super centers – discount stores that also sell groceries – were also included in the study for the first time.
“This is the most comprehensive market basket survey we've ever had,” Simpson said. “It's good news for our customers, and it's an important measuring stick to see how well we're doing in providing the commissary benefit.”
Past studies compared prices on only about 600 items from a sampling of commissaries with prices of the same items found in nearby civilian grocery stores, and didn't include super centers. This year, thanks to the database price information, the study compared prices of virtually every Universal Product Coded item sold in all commissaries in the 48 contiguous states. Prices of items in Alaska, Hawaii, the Far East and Europe were compared using random sampling techniques because the database didn't have prices for those areas. Likewise, meat and produce items in all stores were also compared using random sampling techniques because their prices aren't available in the database.
DeCA has enjoyed great customer savings since its inception in 1991. A 1991 market basket study was performed to assess the effect the consolidation of the military services commissary systems into DeCA would have on customer savings. That survey, which used data collected before the consolidation, found patron savings were 23.2 percent. By 1999, the last survey found savings at 27 percent.
Simpson said agency officials are confident they can reach the 30 percent savings goal because DeCA's buyers now have access to commercial sector sales and pricing data – the same type of information the market basket survey used. The data gives DeCA's buyers the negotiation tool they need to drive down prices. In addition, the agency's merchandising approach is targeting merchandise selections to meet the needs of the various groups that shop each store. The agency's marketing initiatives give price-conscious customers access to the best possible savings.
